Walnuts vs Almonds

Nuts, overall, are considered to be highly nutritious in nature, and almonds and walnuts are no exceptions. Almonds are edible nuts growing on the almond tree, native to the Middle East. Walnuts are hard shelled nuts that grow on walnut trees, native to north temperate forests spanning over Europe, Asia and North America. So which nut is better among the two? We will have to execute a comparative study of walnuts vs almonds, in order to decide which one is more beneficial.

Walnuts vs Almonds: Nutrition
An average size walnut weighing 1 ounce contains 185 calories, 4gm proteins, 4gm carbohydrates and 18gm fats. On the other hand, an almond weighing the same size contains 163 calories, 6gm proteins, 6gm carbohydrates and 14gm fats. Walnuts and almonds, both are rich in several vitamins including B6, B1, B3, B2, and vitamin E. Both these nuts contain manganese, copper, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc. Other than these, walnuts also contain traces of iron and sodium, while almonds contain selenium in significant amounts. Walnuts also contain unsaturated fats, little amount of cholesterol and omega3 essential fatty acids.

Walnuts vs Almonds: Health Benefits
Owing to their similar nutrition content, the health benefits of walnuts and almonds also have strikingly similarity. Let's look at the health benefits of each of these.

Walnut Health Benefits
Walnuts are important constituents of a healthy diet owing to the various health benefits of these nuts, given below.

• Lowers cholesterol levels
• Keeps a check on high blood sugar
• Enhances cardiovascular functions
• Helps in preventing gallstones
• Keep the bones healthy

Other than these, walnuts do have many more health benefits, you can read about them on walnuts health benefits.

Almond Health Benefits
Although they are very small, they have several health gains, some of which are mentioned below.

• Keeps cardiovascular diseases at bay
• Reduces bad cholesterol
• Reduces blood sugar level
• Helps in weight loss and diabetes treatment
• Lowers the risk of gallstones

These were a few of the several health benefits. Read more on almond health benefits.

Walnuts vs Almonds: The Winner
A comprehensive comparison of the cholesterol-lowering effect of various nuts concludes that walnuts have a slight edge over almonds in this aspect of human health. Almonds have more magnesium than walnuts. In case of vitamin E content, almonds have a slight advantage over walnuts. However, walnuts are rich in alpha-linolenic acid. It is the only omega-3 fat type that is found in plant based food, and more importantly, walnuts are the only nuts which contain alpha-linolenic acid. Almonds are rich in calcium, while walnuts are rich in magnesium and vitamin B6. If you take fat content into consideration, almonds are healthier than high fat walnuts. It's difficult to choose a winner among walnuts and almonds, as both have an edge over the other in some or the other aspect. For instance, if we take low fat content, almond is the winner, whereas if we take antioxidant properties walnut is the winner.

Although there is no clear cut winner between walnuts vs almonds, you may come across several studies which declare either one of them as more beneficial than other. This depends on their comparison methodology. It's a well known fact that no single food item can give you all necessary nutrients, and hence one has to include various food items in their daily diet in order to provide the body with necessary nutrients. And walnuts and almonds are both very nutritious and deserve a place in your daily diet.